SomebodySave Me?
by Kureirei
Summary: Nightmares begins, keeping Naruto up at night, hence hindering his performance at training, thus frustrating Sasuke even futher. When reality clashes with one of his nightmares, Naruto just can't take it any more. Can Sasuke save him? ...Before Naruto is
1. Prologue

Somebody...Save Me?  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Naruto what so ever. Just borrowing them for this fic. They are the property of Kishimoto-sensei (and whoever else who is supposed to get proper credit.) I hold no ownership.  
  
This fic may be tied to the storyline, but will be (semi?)AU, I think. This happens sometime after the completion of the mission at the Mist Village with Tazuna-san for those who like to follow the timeline.  
  
First time writing a story of any sort...please be nice. English is a very hard language to learn to speak, read, and write, with so many different rules. I apologize a head of time for any misspelling, misgrammer, and any other errors you find.  
  
**bold print** - indicates time or place

"..." - character speaking

'...' - what character is thinking inside his/her mind  
  
Summary  
  
Nightmares begins, keeping Naruto up at night, hence hindering his performance at training, thus frustrating Sasuke even futher. When reality clashes with one of his nightmares, Naruto just can't take it anymore. Can Sasuke save him? ...Before Naruto is lost forever? SasuNaru  
  
Chapter 1  
  
**Dream Sequence**  
  
Cold glares...  
  
Turned backs...  
  
Avoidance...  
  
'Why do you look at me like that? ...Why are you avoiding me? Somebody...somebody look at me! I'm here! Why...?'  
  
"No one looks at you...  
  
they glare at you.....  
  
cause you're...  
  
a monster."  
  
**End of Dream**  
  
Naruto's eyes flew open, followed by a quick intake of breath.  
  
"Dream? ...It was just ...a dream?" Naruto sat up, panting, trying to calm his racing heart. He was covered in sweat that soaked his night clothes damp.  
  
"Heh, more like a nightmare." Naruto chuckled as he closed his eyes, wiping the sweat off his forehead. 'Why did I dream that?' He wondered. 'They stopped when Iruka-sensei accepted my existance. So why now...are they starting again?' Shaking his head abruptly, "So much for sleep, argh, I need a shower, my clothes are damp and sticky." Grabbing a towel, he headed toward the washroom.  
  
Naruto adjusted the water temperature to his liking and stepped under the running water. 'Best not to think about it. It's just a dream. They can't hurt you, ne? Just forget about it.' He grabbed a washcloth, lathered it with soap, and began washing the sweat off his body and washed his hair. 'Things changed now...I got friends that are precious to me now. I'm not alone.' Rinsing off the soap...'Yeah. I'm not alone now. I've got Kakashi- sensei and Sakura-chan and...and Sasuke.'  
  
Thinking about Sasuke made his heart flutter. Sasuke was the only person who could make his smiling mask faded. Making anger, hate, jealously toward him appear for being better and more advanced in ninjitsu than him. The last remaining suvivor from the Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha, Sasuke...called Naruto dobe and usuratonkachi. Rivalry between them increased ever since that mission in the Mist Village. Naruto's face formed a small, happy smile as he remembered his past memories.  
  
Stepping out and wrapping a towel around his waist and then grabbing another one, he walks towards the kitchen rubbing his hair dry. After setting his stove for water to boil, he waited at the table. Glazing up at the ceiling, he thought 'Why does he affect me so. ...When he shielded me, that time. When those needles pierced him...when he fell..' Naruto closed his eyes tightly. Unpleasant feelings filled him as memories of the fight with Haku surfaced. 'I thought he di(ed)...' His thoughts were interrupted by a whistling sound his kettle made, signaling water was ready.  
  
'Ramen!'  
  
Previous thinking forgotten, he hurried over, turning off the stove and pouring his hot water into his instant, miso ramen bowl. Taking his bowl back to the table, he turned the sand dial upside down thus waiting for the torturing three minutes to pass. Naruto fidgeting in his chair, anxiously waiting. "Hurry, hurry, hurry. Drop faster sand! I wanna eat now. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Naruto lowered his head so that he was eye leveled with the sand dial, now glaring at it. "C'mon. You're the only thing that's keeping me from devouring my favorite thing in the world. ...Yes! Finally!" Naruto happily slurped down the ramen as if he hadn't eaten in a while.  
  
'Mmmm. That was good. Time for seconds!' As he headed toward the stove again, his eyes caught the time that read on the clock. Thinking he misread it, he looked at it again. 7:30. Eyes widened as he realized he was late for training, rushed to get his clothes on, and hurried out the door. 'Damn, I didn't realized the time was so late. Hope Sakura-chan's not too mad at me.'  
  
**Training Area  
**  
"Naruto, you're 2 hours late!" Sakura yelled as she whacked his upside the head.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! But I got a good reason for being late!" cried Naruto as he shielded himself from Sakura's numerous attacks.  
  
"Good reason? All right, let's hear it!" She glares at him, looking like as if one mistaken word would set this girl off.  
  
"...." Thinking back to this morning.  
  
"Well?!"  
  
"I...uh...overslept?" giving her an uneasy smile, edging away from her slowly as he saw one of the veins on her forehead pop. One massive blow to his head sent him crashing face-down to the ground.  
  
'Shannarou! That's what you get if mess with me! Naruto no baka!' Sakura's inner self screamed as she sat back down next to Sasuke, rubbing her bruised knuckle.  
  
"Hn. Dobe ga." said Sasuke, looking more annoyed than usual.  
  
Naruto sat sulking as he rubbed his head. 'Phew. Almost told them about my nightmare. No need to worry them needlessly. It was just a stupid dream.'  
  
**...An hour later**  
  
Poof!  
  
"Yo." Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke with his trademark book, Icha Icha Paradise.  
  
"YOU"RE LATE!!" came back the obvious answer from Sakura and Naruto.  
  
"Well, you see, I was ready to be here on time but I saw a line of black crows perched over my fence this morning so I waited until they were gone."  
  
"Don't believe in superstitions, Kakashi-sensei, they're nothing but nonsense." said Sakura annoyed.  
  
"What's our mission, Kakashi-sensei. Ne, ne-tteba? Hope it's some thing exciting." Naruto was aching to relieve off some tension.  
  
"Well, today we're supposed to find and retrieve back Tora, the cat."  
  
"Again?!"  
  
"Yes, Naruto, again. Now get going. Oh, and once the mission's finished, you're off for the rest of the day. Ja." and promptly disappeared.  
  
"Dumb cat." muttered Naruto as he headed off to search for the said cat.  
  
"Likewise." Sasuke agreed. "Let's hurry up and get this over."  
  
"Okay." answered Sakura as she ran after them.  
  
To be Continued...  
  
I know this is starting out boring, but will get better as more chapters get added. (I hope.) Please review. They tell me how I'm doing. If you are going to flame, please leave a way to contact you so I may respond back to your comments. Arigatou na.


	2. SomebodySave Me?

Somebody...Save Me?  
  
Disclaimer: Same as in Chapter 1. I take no ownership of Kishimoto's characters or his storyline. Although, I will be borrowing it and changing the plots a bit to fit this story.  
  
I decided to combine my plans for Chapter 2 and 3 together to make a longer chapter as the reviewers commented. I'm really bad at writing long papers. I even have a hard time writing a 2 paged, double-spaced essay for school every time they're assigned so I shrugged alot with this one.

I've never written one this long before. In the future, I probably won't write anything like this again. I can't promise 'cause I don't know if I can. I'm nervous but I hope you like!!   
  
Chapter 2  
  
**(# of days passed)**  
  
Same types of missions, day after day, even though the tasks were different. Naruto was getting bored and stressed again. Like yesterday, Tora-chan have yet, escaped again, sending Team 7 on another mission to retrieve it.  
  
This time it took longer to find her (him?) (Note1) and even longer to catch her because Tora-chan was desperate to get away for good. They chased her everywhere and finally caught her by outsmarting and luring her into a trap. When they turned her in, it was late in the evenings, a half an hour before dark.  
  
Naruto didn't feel like he got enough, so after they were dismissed, he returned back to the training area to practice and train more on his jutsu and his abilites. And also blow off steam from his stress. He worked well into the dark, until passed midnight that he decided it was enough. When he got home, he took a quick shower and fell asleep almost instantly as soon as his head touched his pillow. There he began to dream again.  
  
**Dream Sequence  
**  
(sound of door quietly opening and closing)  
  
Naruto felt it and stepped out of his room to see who it was. In the kitchen, he found a woman by the countertops unwrapping small boxes. He walks towards her making no sound and as he got closer, he started to notice the scent, realizing it was food. 'It's time to eat? But this person is different from the last lady who always comes. What happened to the last lady? Is this new person, gonna bring me food now?' The woman was taking out plates from the cupboards and was in the process of placing them down when he spoke.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"gasp!" She abruptly turned around quickly, the plates fell from her grip on it and scattered unto the floor. Naruto looked down at the fallen plates and then at the woman to find a frightening look on her face. He wondered for a moment, what or why she was so frightened of.  
  
"Daijoubu?" (Are you all right?) He said in an uncertain voice as he extended a hand out to her intending to help. The woman gasped again and moved away out of reach. Little Naruto raised an eyebrow at this action, tilting his head slightly. Seeing the reaction on his face, she quickly renewed her shifted composure and glared down at him before bending down to pick up the scattered, plastic plates. She wasn't going to let a four year old child get the best of her nor let him make a mockery of her. Especially if the child was a demon. A disgusting one at that, she thought. 'Why does this, this thing have to be taken care of? What was our Hokage thinking? He should have been done away with, soon as Kyubi was sealed.' After setting the plates back on top of the counter, she grabbed him by the arm and lead him away.  
  
"Where are you taking me?" He asked as he struggled to keep up.  
  
"A bath." Was all she responded with.  
  
Naruto froze and tried to stop, resisting when he heard the word. The woman was stronger than he was so of course, it ended up with him being dragged along to the washroom. He hated baths. Baths were painful. They hurt. Naruto finally complied, in defeat, knowing resisting further was futile and more pain than necessary would come. He didn't want to get hit if he retaliated too much, like with the last lady that was here and those before her.  
  
Upon arrival, she filled a waterbowl full with water and the bathtub a quarter of a way full. Proceeding with the next step, she pulled off his dirty clothes and placed him in. Without warning, Naruto was drenched as water was poured over his head.. He coughed as he accidently breathe in some of it. Not pausing in her work nor checking if he was all right, she lathered up soap studs and scrubbed hard to get his hair clean. He fidgeted in the bathtub, trying to get away from the advancing fingers and got soap in his eyes instead, which stung badly and quickly splashed water to his face to get the pain out. The woman on the otherhand and was getting a soapy washcloth ready and started to scrub off the layered dirt off his body.  
  
"Ow. It hurts. Please stop." He pleaded, but the woman gave no recognition, not slowing down a second in her work. He knew. He knew she wouldn't stop even if he asked. They never did. After what felt like endless torture to him, she finished, rinsing off Naruto's soapy body, took him out, and pulled the plug to drain. Getting up, she threw a towel, she snatched nearby, over his head and another one to dry her hands.  
  
"Dry yourself." And walked out. Slowly, Naruto rubbed his head with the towel to get excess water out and wrapped the used towel around his body. He was cold. She didn't bother using warm water. His head, his body, everything throbbed with pain. His skin reddened from the harsh scrubbing.  
  
When he arrived back in the kitchen, he found the woman had finished placing the plates of food on the table and was now gathering her belongings together. She looked up from where she was crouching when Naruto walked in. With a look of disgust, she pointed at the nearby chair where wash-worn clothes lay.  
  
"Clothes are there, eat, and clean them when finished." With that said, she picked up her bags and walked passed him. She was stopped by a hand grabbing unto her skirt. She looked glared down from the corner of her eye.  
  
"Will you stay? Eat with me...please? Please don't leave." Naruto's face had a hesitate look, pleading and his tiny voice shook when he said this, fearing he might get rejected again. Trying won't hurt, right? Even with this look and his pleading, it had no affect on the woman for she knew what he really was. A monster.  
  
Slapping his hand off her skirt, "No! I don't have any more time to waste on you!" and quickly walked out. Naruto stood there staring at the door where the woman retreated from, his eyes shadowed by his bangs. After some time, he moved to get his clothes and in a robot-like motion, he put them on. Done with that, he climbed up unto a chair, sat in it, and began to eat. He ate whatever was the closest. He didn't care about the taste. It was the same food brought to him anyway. It all tasted the same to him. It was edible, but ndidn't taste good as his emotions blocked his tastebuds.  
  
Being alone, with no one there to enjoy the food with, enjoy their company with, made the food taste dull, unappetizing. Tears leaked out, but he didn't take notice nor cease eating. The loneliness suffocating him, becoming unbearable.  
  
'Why? So alone. This feeling... It hurts. My chest hurts so much...'  
  
**End of Dream**  
  
Naruto slowly opened his eyes, stilling feeling that dream-like state. He raised a hand towards his face and wasn't surprised to find it wet with tears as well. With the same hand, he clutched his chest, where his heart was. It felt pain there. It hurts there, as he could still remember the loneliness he felt in his dream. He turned over to the side, bringing his knees up. Naruto's face had a lost look, his eyes clouded over as more tears fell.  
  
'Why? Why is this happening now? I don't want to remember. This heartache...' He closed his eyes, tightening his jaws. '...don't want to (remember)...The past...(hurts too much)'  
  
Dreams have continued, at random nights. Each one different from the next, pain increasing little by little, each time he dreamed whether if it's about his past or simply what he feared from the villagers. Naruto was now having some trouble sleeping. Was afraid to sleep, to dream, to remember. He ate more to keep up his energy and keep the tireness from surfacing. Naruto used foundation to hide the slight dark circles that's starting to appear more darker around his eyes which he did pretty efficiently for his teammates didn't notice...yet. He didn't want them to know. It would be shown as a weakness to him if they knew. No, he didn't want that.  
  
Naruto relaxed his body and sighed when he got up. The tireness getting the best of him today. Checking the clock, he noticed he'd woken up early. An hour early to be exact. Shrugging he got ready and left for the training grounds. He didn't have anything else better to do and he didn't feel like eating. Wouldn't hurt to go there and get his mind off his dream, ne?  
  
'Forget. Forget everything about the dream. It won't hurt if you don't remember.' He mindlessly whispered to himself as he ran through the village and over the tree branches. 'Forgeting would the best.' He told himself with an blank face. 'They only hurt when you remember.'  
  
**At the Training Area**  
  
Upon arriving, he found Sasuke already there by a tree, sitting, knees up, elbows on them, fingers intertwined, his chin resting above them. Sasuke opened his eyes when he heard Naruto's footsteps. A brief spark of eye contact, but Naruto was tired and didn't feel like picking a fight with him today so he sat down next to Sasuke wordlessly, with his back resting against the trunk of the tree. Sasuke very slightly raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off, closing his eyes once again. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto turned his head a little to glance at Sasuke from the corner of his eye.  
  
"You're here early, aren't ya."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"How come?"  
  
"Always am, dobe."  
  
"Don't call me that, bastard!" glaring and pointing a finger at Sasuke.  
  
"I'll call you whatever I want, usuratonkachi." frowning, his eyebrow twitching.  
  
"Hmph. Whatever." Naruto pouted, then let out a yawn.  
  
Sasuke opened one eye to look at him.  
  
"Not sleeping well, deadlast? Don't let it affect you too much to cause us trouble again." smirk  
  
"Shut up, I won't. Just tired, that's all." he said halfheartedly as he closed his eyes. It was peaceful here. And with Sasuke nearby, he safe. Hearing his voice somehow calmed him even though the name calling hurt...just a little. His body relaxed on its own, drifting him off to sleep.  
  
Sasuke now had both eyes open at this time, observing Naruto's features as it changed from one emotion to another in under a minute. He noticed something else too. Something was a little off with Naruto.  
  
"Oi! Dobe? You awake?" Sasuke shifted closer to notice Naruto's soft snoring and even breathing patterns. 'He really did fall asleep, the idiot.' (sigh) 'Hn, only a dobe like him could do this. No surprising with all his energy he uses everyday, it's a wonder how he keeps his smile around people. Doesn't he ever get fed up?' closing his eyes, shaking his head a little. He was surprised at how easily Naruto dropped his guard around him today. Normally he anticipated that Naruto would try a pick a fight with him again, like he always did in a boring routine manner. He knew just the right words to say that would provoke the blond ninja exploding in a heated fit. It was funny how he couldn't keep his emotions in check, but Sasuke wasn't going to let him know that.  
  
Looking at Naruto again, he took the time to observe carefully. So many emotions with just one face, he thought. This boy brought out certain emotions in him that he thought he had buried deep within. He started to feel something else again besides hatred. And was getting harder to suppress them under his icy glare. 'He look so peaceful. So innocent." Sasuke reached a hand up to brush away hair from Naruto's eyes. With closer inspection, he notice the light, tanned coloring under his eyes. 'Looks like he hasn't been sleep well for several days. Hn. Not my problem though.' scoffing as he shifted himself back into a more comfortable position. Closing his eyes, he waited for the others to arrive.  
  
Sasuke apparantly must have dozed off cause he opened his eyes abruptly when he felt sudden weight on his right shoulder. Looking over, he found Naruto leaning against him, still asleep. He glared and ran a hand through his hair, deciding to wake him up.  
  
"Oi. Wake up." shaking him by his left arm. Naruto stirred but didn't wake continuing to sleep deeply. Eyebrow twitching again, Sasuke was determined to wake him now which caused Naruto to slide off the tree thus falling upon Sasuke's lap. Sasuke's face instantly reddened with blush at where Naruto's head landed. Shifting and shaking him again, Sasuke tried once more.  
  
"Oi! Get up, deadlast. I doubt you want to be found in this position." He gave up after 10 minutes of trying. Naruto now laid flat on his back with his head resting on Sasuke's right thigh. Bring his left knee up to support his elbow, Sasuke rested his chin in his hand and scoffed again as he glared at the innocent, sleeping face. He didn't stay mad for long as he glazed the peaceful expression. Angered expression slowly faded away, replacing it with a warm, small smile.  
  
'What you do to me, Uzumaki, Naruto.' He brushed away the bangs from Naruto's face with his free hand to get a better view of it. He then cupped Naruto's left cheek and traced one of the whiskered scars with his thumb. 'What happened to that loud-mouthed baka ninja that I fell in love with.' His tracing stopped when he realized what he thought. Blushing, he admitted that he loved him to himself.  
  
Shaking his head to rid of the feelings, 'No! I can't fall in love with him. Not now. Not when I haven't finished my ambition yet. Avenging my clan come first whether I die trying. I can't forgive 'him' for what he done to them...to me. I have to get strong fast so that I may someday beat him soon.' Lowering his eyelids, half closed, 'Besides, what would Naruto think if he finds out. I doubt he'll feel the same towards me as I towards him. Hn. He's in love with Sakura and he clearly shows it to everyone.' Just then he senses someone approaching, his free hand unconsciously reaching for his kunai. Seeing Sakura heading towards him, he relaxed and quickly fixed his composure to that emotionless state.  
  
"Hi, Sasuke-kun!!" She greeted him when she was in close enough range. 'Hm? Naruto? What's he doing here? And on top of Sasuke-kun's lap? How dare he...' and proceeded walking towards the said victim to beat him awake but a wave of Sasuke's hand stopped her. '? Why are you stopping me, Sasuke- kun?'  
  
"Let the dobe sleep. If he doesn't sleep now, he hindered our mission later." he said, not looking up once to see her.  
  
"But your leg. Naruto is sle(eping on you)..." Sakura started to argue but Sasuke interupted her.  
  
"It's fine."  
  
"All right. If you're okay with it, Sasuke-kun." She reluctantly agreed, sitting herself next to him. 'Damn him. He's so lucky. I wish I could sleep on Sasuke-kun's lap like he does.' Sakura glared down at him. 'Damn! Kakashi-sensei hurry up and come! I can't bear to see this scene for much longer.'  
  
Sasuke ignored the glare directed at Naruto. 'Just maybe...after all's done, maybe I could still...'  
  
**3 Hours and a Half Later**  
  
Poof!  
  
"Ya, shokun. (Hey, everyone. (or everybody)) Ohayou.(Good morning)" waving a hand up as clouds of smoke disappeared.  
  
"Osoi! ((You're) late)" Sakura yelled, standing up.  
  
(laughing) "Kyou wa, ne... (Well today) I picked up a 500 yen on the way here. I looked around and finding no one who seemed to have dropped it so I used it to get a snack and (green) tea. Then I forget all about you guys and remembered just now."  
  
"...." Sakura making a -- face, 'Little thief and how could he forget us?'  
  
"...." Sasuke, 'He never changes.'  
  
"..." Naruto, still sleeping.  
  
"n? Naruto wa?" (Hm? Where's Naruto?) Sakura stepped aside and pointed to the ground by Sasuke.  
  
"A ra? (saying expression-like 'Oh dear/My god/etc) Nechatta no? (Fell asleep?) Kore wa komatta, na. (This (gives) trouble (to) us, doesn't it?)" The instructor said rubbing the back of his head.  
  
Sasuke got up, making Naruto slide off him, falling to the ground, hitting his head.  
  
Thud! "Erk. Owww."  
  
"Problem solved." He said dusting the back of his shorts. Glancing at his instructor, "What's the mission?"  
  
"What's the big idea?! I was having such a nice sl(eep)...Kakashi-sensei! You're here early!"  
  
"No, he's 3 hours late like always. You just slept through it, on Sasuke- kun's lap." Sakura replied fuming with jealously, crossing her arms in the process.  
  
"Huh?" Looking up at Sasuke to confirm this, but he was looking away so Naruto couldn't see the slight blush that Sasuk's face left, unable to conceal it completely.  
  
Naruto let the situation drop, "So, what's the mission today, Kakashi- sensei?"  
  
"Sou da na...(Let's see) we need to...go shopping for this lady, walk this neighbor's dogs, and repaint this man's house...by today."  
  
"Eh? They're all boring. Don't you have anything more exciting?"  
  
"Quit complaining, you're being annoying again." Sakura said, rubbing her temples.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Well unless you rank up, I'm afraid you're stuck with D-ranked missions." Kakashi-sensei said with a smile. "So let's get started. The last one's gonna take forever if we don't start early, ne?" and walked off.  
  
"Yeah, who made us start late?" Sakura asked. A rhetorical question. The reluctant team soon followed after their irresponsible instructor.  
  
**Their Last Mission**  
  
Sasuke eyebrows twitched for the upteenth time as he shrugged to keep his anger in check. He looked up over at Naruto sitting on the ladder who was dozing off again with his hand was still painting slowly, then resumed his own painting on the wall beside the ladder. Sasuke began to recall the previous incidents that happened before that was the main cause of his anger.  
  
**Flashback...  
  
****Mission 1:**  
  
The team just finished shopping the goods, the lady wanted and was delievering them to her house. Naruto had stubbornly volunteered to carry all of the heavy canned goods by himself to brag and show that he was stronger than Sasuke and could carry more than him. All three cases of them.  
  
Everything was fine until Naruto tripped and spilled the cans in the middle of a busy street. The pedestrians were packed, each pushing and shoving to get through. The team had a hell of a time gathering them up around the pedestrians' feet.  
  
**Mission 2:  
**  
"Quit squirming, Naruto! I can't get them untied."  
  
"But Sasuke's heavy, Sakura-chan. And he's squishing my valuable ba(lls)..."  
  
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she didn't want to hear any further. "And whose fault is it that Sasuke-kun's in this position?"  
  
"..." Naruto sulked and quieted down. And stopped moving also so Sakura could get the task done much faster.  
  
Sasuke, on the other hand was trying to hold down his blush. Their position was kinda, arkward and embrassing. Naruto and Sasuke were facing each other, touching really close, chest to chest, with the leashes tangled around them, both on the ground with Sasuke on top of Naruto. The dogs were barking around all three of them.  
  
**-Earlier-**

"Oh! Finally, I was beginning to think you boys weren't coming. I have a business that I need taken care of. Here are the keys to the gates...uh, make sure they get plenty of exercises." She said handing the keys to Kakashi. "Ah, yes! Will you feed them also? I won't be back in time to do it myself. The dogfoods are in the cupboards by the porch in the back. Fill their bowls up to the top. No more, no less. And refill their water bowls also please. Kakashi-san I'll be by later to drop off my payment. Thanks. I see you guys later." and she left.  
  
Tossing the keys to Sasuke, "You heard what she said. Go give them plenty of exercises." He disappear and reappeared above a branch high up, getting comfortable, and starting reading his perverted book.  
  
"Hn." he said as he unlocked the gates, grabbing the leashes along the way. Naruto and Sakura followed. 'Hn. Five dogs...three people.' Tossing two leashes to Sakura and a leash to Naruto..."Let's get started."  
  
"Hey, how come Sakura-chan gets to walk two. I'll walk two, too." whined Naruto as he stuck a hand out to receive his second one.  
  
"No. I'll take it. You'll just cause more trouble." he answered bending down to hook the leash on his second dog. Sakura waited patiently by the gates as she was ready to go. Noticing that Naruto has yet to leash his own dog, stubbornly standing his ground. Glaring, "Go get your dog." Sasuke grounded out.  
  
"Not until I get my second leash."  
  
" Stop playing and go get your dog. Besides you can't handle it. Remember last time you walked a dog? That dog lead you straight into the mines field!"  
  
"Yes I can. And they're small dogs now? Small, not big like the last time! I can handle it."  
  
Sakura, not able to take anymore of Naruto's whining, "Naruto stop complaining and do what Sasuke-kun says. We're wasing time as it is."  
  
"Fine." tossing the leash to Naruto. "Get going."  
  
An hour and a half later, Team 7 heading back to the house, nothing happened yet. Along the way, Naruto offered to take Sakura's second dog and took it despite Sakura's weak protest.  
  
"See, nothing to it."  
  
"Hmph."  
  
Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, "You're just jealous cause I walked more (dogs) than you." Sasuke rolled his eyes at his behavior. 'This is childish. Grow up, Naruto.'  
  
Naruto spoke too soon as he didn't watch where he was stepping on and he accidently stepped on one of the tails. The dog yelped, suddenly running forward, invoking the other two dogs to do the same. Naruto was pulled forward, but his grip didn't release. Each dog then turned in three different directions, then heading back, around where Sasuke and Sakura was. One leash broke off from Naruto's grip, letting the hurt dog run even faster. Sasuke grabbed that leash right after it roomed past him, halting it. He didn't see Naruto running straight towards him.  
  
"Waaa. Move, move. Move out of the way!"  
  
"!! Ouff." As Naruto slammed into Sasuke. The remaining dogs that Naruto was holding were fully agitated now, infecting Sasuke's dogs as well, causing all four of them attempting to flee. Their leashes stopped them from getting far, making them run in circles around both of the boys, tangling the leashes into knots. Unable to keep balance, they fell over with Naruto on his back. Naruto jerked at where Sasuke's knee was and began squirmming to get it removed.  
  
"Get off, bastard! Watch where you're putting that knee!"  
  
"I would if I could, deadlast! Nothing to it, huh? That's a big surprise."  
  
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled as she hurried over to get them untied. "Naruto, you idiot, look at what you've done now."  
  
"Hn, usuratonkachi ga. Causing me more trouble." Sasuke mumbled.  
  
"What did you call me, bastard!"  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"But Sakura-chan..."  
  
"Quiet!"  
  
Naruto pouted as he shut his mouth and waited for her to finish her untangling.  
  
'This is going to be a long day at this rate." Sasuke thought, an anger mark appearing.  
  
**...End of Flashback  
  
Current time**  
  
"Hn." Sasuke grumbled again, his anger fueled by the recalled thoughts. More anger marks appeared. 'n. I'm out of paint.' Looking at Sakura on the other side of the ladder, he decided to ask her to get more.  
  
"Sakura, can you get me some more paint?"  
  
"Of course, Sasuke-kun." She chirped, really happy that Sasuke spoke to her. She grabbed his bowl and ran to where the paint cans were, filled the last amount of paint up and ran back to where her Sasuke-kun was, handing it to him.  
  
"Arigatou."  
  
"No problem, Sasuke-kun." She answered back happily and resumed her painting. Kakashi walked by to see how their progress was going. He noticed Naruto had dozed off, his hand in the air still in painting position, his other hand loosely holding his paintbowl, and an opened paintcan by his foot. Getting a mischievous grin under his mask, he lightly kicked the corner to the ladder, sending an enough of a tremor to wake Naruto.  
  
Naruto felt it and woke up instantly, shocked and he paniced thinking he'd fall, furiously swinging his arms up and down to keep balance. Sasuke looked up when he heard a noise, just in time to see a paintbowl coming down towards him. He quickly stepped aside to avoid that and then grabbed ahold of the ladder to keep it steady. Naruto in the process, accidently kicked the paintcan with his foot which on top of Sasuke's head, upside down, paint drooling down his body. Naruto grabbed hold of a drainage pipe on the side of the house and let out a relief that was interupted by a paintbowl hitting the side of his head. Paint from that covering dripped down his !!" He looked down and saw Sakura with a vertical streak of paint on her furious face. He gulped.  
  
"Sakura-chan, I..."  
  
"Naruto!! Look at what you did!! And to Sasuke-kun!!" She bellowed, pointing to Sasuke.  
  
Following her finger, he saw Sasuke with paintcan in hand, completely covered. Paint was still running down, to his legs. Naruto felt his blood drain from his face as he jumped down. "Heh, heh,...gomen, Sasuke." The paintcan hitting his face was his answer.  
  
"Oww! WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU BASTARD!!" Naruto yelled his guilt was forgotten momentarily, but quickly came back as he saw Sasuke's barely contained features. Sasuke's body shook with rage. 'Sasuke...' Sasuke prepared to release this rage on Naruto, but Kakashi's voice stopped him.  
  
"My, my. You still have some left to go and you've wasted paint. All right, you two, go buy some more while Sakura and I clean up this mess." Kakashi interupted, tossing a couple of yen who Naruto caught, and began cleaning. Looking at Sasuke, he just turned and stormed off.  
  
"Oi, wait for me!" as he ran after him.  
  
**...At the paint store  
**  
The manager started to laugh as he saw the state, those two were in but quickly snuffled it when he saw the glare on Sasuke's face. He gulped and asked, "What can I do for you guys?"  
  
"Two cans of white paint." He grounded out, still glaring deadly at the man.  
  
"Uh, sure. Coming right up." Quickly handed over the paintcans to Sasuke, Naruto paid him and Sasuke took off with Naruto hesitantly following him. "Pleasure doing business with you." The manager said weakly and he waved. 'What a scary kid.'  
  
**...Walking back on the way**  
  
"Sasuke, wait up!" As Naruto quickened his pace to match Sasuke's. "Here, I'll carry one for you." Reaching over to take one of the cans. Sasuke quickly pulled it out of reach and kept walking. Crestfallen, Naruto lowered his hand and silently followed after him. 'Why does this always happen. I didn't mean for this to happen.'  
  
After several minutes of silent walking, Sasuke looked back at Naruto as he noticed the quietness with him being around. He saw that Naruto's face was downcast and looking miserable. 'Maybe I overdid it? How does he affect me so? But he made me so angry today with his clumsiness. He's always pulling my leg, acting tough and arrogant and stubborn and his voice so loud, so annoying and with that smile of his, doesn't he ever get tired putting up with that facade of...' looking back at Naruto again, he felt his anger fading. He sighed as he stopped to wait for Naruto to catch up, his anger long gone now.  
  
'Why does this always happens to me? I try so hard to get this attention and I mess up everything in the end. Cause Sakura-chan trouble and even Sasuke, trouble. I'm really am a dropout. It's getting to be a hassel just putting up with this mask. Maybe I should just...(quit)'  
  
Naruto looked up as he ran into someone. He didn't expect to see Sasuke standing there, looking back at him. "Eek?" jumping back a foot. "What?! You decided to get back at me?" putting his arms up in blocking position. " You want to hit me? Go ahead, I'll take it." closing his eyes and placing forward his face as he prepared for the blow. He didn't expect a paintcan to be thrusted his way, lightly hitting his chest. Out of reaction, he took it and looked up to find a smirk on Sasuke's face. Naruto raised an eyebrow, confused.  
  
"Dobe." He said with a small smile and started walking again. Naruto was dumbfounded, then quickly catched up to him, matching his pace. Naruto glanced over, "Does this mean you forgive me?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"Hn. I should have expected you to be so clumsy."  
  
"Hey, what's that supppose to mean?" pouting  
  
"Just as it says, dobe. Or are you too stupid to comprehend it?" Sasuke's attitude back to normal.  
  
"Bastard." Naruto whispered. "Ano sa, I'm really..(looking at the ground and back at sasuke)..sorry...about today and (looking away) causing you trouble and..such."  
  
Sasuke smirking again, "Don't think too much on it or you might break your head from thinking too hard."  
  
Anger mark, "Why you BASTARD!!" swinging his paintcan at Sasuke. "I never should have apologize to you in the first place! Do you know how hard it was for me to say that to you?!"  
  
Sasuke dodged it, laughing. Naruto barely took note of it as he kept swinging his paintcan. 'He looks so handsome. He really should smile more ...I did not just think that!! What am I thinking!! He'll think I'm weird if I told the truth.'  
  
"Come on, let's hurry and get back and finish up." Still chuckling and sprinting off.  
  
"Hey, wait up!" As he sprinted after. 'Even if I liked him, will he like me?'  
  
**...Back at the house, they were painting  
**  
The team quickly finished painting with Sakura still bickering about Naruto's mishap and were dispatched. Sakura went home early, wanting the paint out of her hair as soon as possible. Naruto and Sasuke walked home together before the path separated.  
  
"Hey, Sasuke?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"What do you think about the Chuunin Exam. It'll be nice to be able to participate in it, huh?"  
  
"Hn. Yeah."  
  
"Wonder if we could get in? That Gaara looks really strong."  
  
"Think you got enough to qualify? I doubt it." Sasuke scoffed.  
  
"Yeah, I do. Bet you're scared to take it. Afraid to show Sakura-chan your pathetic side?" Naruto said, grinning.  
  
"You wish, dobe."  
  
"Stop calling me th(at)." Naruto's stomach growling interupted. Placing a hand over it, "I'm hungry. Wanna go to Ichiraku's to get ramen? They have the best ramen there! I'll even buy?"  
  
"Nah. I'll think I'll pass. I want this paint washed off. It's beginning to itch."  
  
"Hmph. Fine." Naruto answered as he started toward his favorite place. Then Sasuke called out to him before he got out of hearing range.  
  
"Oi, dobe! You better get decent sleep tonight or you'll get sick! All right! Ja na!" and went home.  
  
Naruto stood there, wide-eyed. 'He was worried about me?' Then he hurried off to get his ramen. After dining with his stomach full, satisfied, he returned home, taking a shower to washed off the paint and got into bed. Before he went to sleep, he remembered Sasuke's words. Feeling a tingling sensation, he smiled.  
  
'Someone actually cares for me. This feeling..I kinda feels good.' finally closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. For the first time in a while, he didn't have a nightmare that night.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Was it still too short? It wasn't too wordy, was it? I tend to add useless words, unknowingly, to fit the required length in the past or so my teacher says. If I did, please tell me in your reviews so I may avoid them in the future. Arigatou.

Note 1: Is Tora-chan a female or a male? The name and the ribbons clashed so I didn't know. Tora is Japanese for tiger and I've heard some people name their male pets by this, but the ribbons? Does that mean Tora-chan's a female cat with a male's name? --?? What would you say?

Thanks everyone, for the reviews. I really appreciate them. They gave me a special feeling of happiness that I can't explain in English. A single word for this type of happiness doesn't exist in the English language as far as I know (yet) so it tends to be translated as just 'happy'.

Again, Domo Arigatou na, Minna. Please review again for this one.


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